Camp fires on Loch Maree islands. A thread...

Last summer there was a wildfire on one of the Loch Maree islands which was caused by a camp fire

Here is the source. A campfire that burnt into peat soil and was not properly extinguished. It burnt under ground and re-emerged 10m away to cause the wildfire. It has burnt away most of the soil in this part of the island.

Many of the trees in the burnt area have now fallen over as the peat soil mostly burnt away

But to our surprise this has lead to people cutting away the branches for new camp fires

Despite the obvious burnt area, there have been two recent camp fires in the area of the wildfire from last year including this one that was in the fire break that was cut to stop the fire spreading to the rest of the island along with neat stacks of wood!

SOAC says you should not have a fire in a woodland or on peaty soil. That means it is inappropriate to have any open fire on Loch Maree islands.

The need to have a camp fire seems to be growing, perhaps not helped by the media showing camping with camp fires like this one, and TV shows that encourage open fires.

The Loch Maree islands are special, with some of the most interesting pinewoods in Scotland. The advice for accessing Loch Maree islands responsibly is - no open fires of any kind and limit stays on an island to a max of 30mins. Best to take a stove, or better still a flask.